March 22, 2010 -- Two large new studies add weight to a growing body of
evidence that light-to-moderate drinking may have a protective effect on the heart and prevent heart-related deaths.

While researchers stop short of recommending that people who don't drink
take up drinking alcohol in hopes of reaping health benefits, they say the
results "provide some of the strongest evidence to date" that moderate drinking
reduces the risk of heart
disease in a wide variety of people.

The first study showed that light-to-moderate drinking -- about one drink
per day for women and two per day for men -- reduced the risk of heart-related
death in a diverse national sample of more than 245,000 adults.

A second study showed moderate drinking reduced the risk of heart-related
death as well as death from any cause in people with existing heart disease,
thus extending the benefits already shown in healthy people.

Although experts say "absolute proof" that people at risk for heart disease
benefit from light to moderate drinking will not appear anytime soon, the case
is becoming increasingly compelling.

"The risks of moderate drinking differ by sex, age, personal history, and
family history," writes Arthur L. Klatsky, MD, of Kaiser Permanente Medical
Center in Oakland, Calif., in an editorial that accompanies the studies in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

"As is often the case in medical practice, advice about lifestyle must be
based on something less than certainty," says Klatsky. "What is required is a
synthesis of common sense and the best available scientific facts."

Benefits of Light-to-Moderate Drinking

In the first study, researcher Kenneth J. Mukamal, MD, MPH, of the Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data
collected by the CDC's National Health Interview Survey of nearly a quarter
million U.S. adults between 1987 and 2000.

Researchers divided drinkers and abstainers into six different categories
(never drinkers, lifetime infrequent drinkers, and former drinkers as well as
light, moderate, and heavy current drinkers). Light drinkers were those who
regularly drank three or fewer drinks per week. Moderate drinkers were those
who regularly drank four to seven drinks per week (for women) or four to 14
drinks per week (for men).

Overall, there were 10,670 heart-related deaths among the 245,207
participants. The researchers found that light and moderate drinkers had a 31%
and 38%, respectively, lower risk of death due to heart disease than abstainers
(whether they were never drinkers, lifetime infrequent drinkers, or former
drinkers). But more alcohol was not better. Drinking above the
light-to-moderate levels eliminated any risk reduction.

In the second study, Italian researchers analyzed eight previously published
studies on alcohol and heart disease involving more than 16,000 people with
heart disease.

The results showed light-to-moderate drinking of up 5 to 10 grams of alcohol
a day (roughly equivalent to one standard drink per day for women and up to 2
drinks for men) provided the maximum benefits in preventing death from any
cause. This protective effect of alcohol on people with heart disease remained
significant up to 25 grams of alcohol per day.

Drinking more than 25 grams of alcohol per day, however, was associated with
an increased risk of death, once again highlighting the hazards of excessive
alcohol use.

SOURCES: Mukamal, K. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, March 30,
2010; vol 55: pp 1328-1335.

Klatsky, A. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, March 30,
2010; vol 55: pp 1336-1339.

Costanzo, S. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, March 30,
2010; vol 55: pp 1339-1347.